The city of Detroit, Michigan played host to several Latin American Solidarity Groups, beginning with the Latin American Task Force in the 1970s and continuing with the Committee in Solidarity and with People of El Salvador in the 1980s. Many of these groups had disbanded by the late 1980s, but they left an organizational history and ties with Latin America that account for significant chapters in U.S. history.

Because of her extensive research on Mexican social movements, Professor Elaine Carey was approached by Kathleen Schulz, I.H.M, Jackie Rubio, and Jean Rooney, all of whom had belonged to solidarity groups. These three individuals had possession of the archive, and sought a place to house the collection on the condition that it remain complete and intact. Professor Carey agreed to keep the collection intact, and she has.

Brian Nedwek, Dean of the University of Detroit Mercy College of Liberal Arts, immediately donated space to hold the materials, and it was when we sorted through them that we realized their value. From U.S. Honduran embassy documents to underground newsletters, from photos and slides of guerillas to extensive video documentaries, our archive now holds more than 300 rare items. Come see it for yourself in the Briggs building, room 344, on the University of Detroit Mercy's McNichols campus.

Some of our documents have the form of books on liberation theology; human rights reports from solidarity groups based in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Honduras; newspapers that cover events rarely, if ever, acknowledged in the U.S.; and newsletters and social justice papers that could have created serious consequences for those who printed them.

We are especially proud that CLASA contains contributions from Detroit locals, including our late Professor of Philosophy Arthur McGovern, S.J.